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Don’t let this summer heat wave fool you. It’s still bitterly cold in job land. Despite Wade’s optimistic report this morning on local companies with open positions, a lot of Seattle-area tech and life sciences firms are still heading in the opposite direction. In the past month, we’ve seen layoffs, big and small, across the software and biotech industries.

—Seattle-based social publishing startup Wetpaint laid off 15 employees, or 27 percent of its staff, leaving the company with about 40 people. A Wetpaint spokesperson confirmed the news, saying, “The ad market continues to be tough and the long tail seems to be taking the brunt of it.” The layoff was first reported by TechFlash.

—Redmond, WA-based Sampa, a small Internet startup focused on helping families create websites, announced it is closing down as of Aug. 17. Founder Marcelo Calbucci said the company ran out of money and its business models didn’t work out.

—Two Seattle institutions, RealNetworks and Vulcan, laid off a small percentage of workers in June. RealNetworks cut fewer than 10 positions in its media software group, while Paul Allen’s Vulcan cut 17 employees in its technical department. The news was reported by TechFlash here and here. Both firms are coming off of larger layoffs last winter; Real cut 130 positions (39 in Seattle) in December, while Vulcan laid off 50 in January.